We report for the first time the influence of the particle size of a porous sulfur host on the sulfur utilization and cycling stability of Li–S batteries.

Isophthalate with the simple chemical structure is identified as an effective phosphor for room temperature phosphorescent (RTP) materials. With −Br, −CH 3 , and −CHCH 2 at the 5-position of the benzene ring of didecyl isophthalate, the three crystalline small molecules of DDIP-Br, DDIP-CH 3 , and DDIP-CHCH 2 demonstrate ultralong RTP with lifetime of 236, 650, and 184 ms, respectively, although no specific interactions are recognized in the crystals. Radical polymerization of DDIP-CHCH 2 readily results in Poly-1, which is the first RTP liquid crystalline polymer.Direct attachment of isophthalate phosphor to every repeating unit of polyethylene backbone through a single carbon−carbon bond leads to a significant side-chain jacketing effect, greatly reducing the motion of phosphor moieties. Poly-1 renders a columnar LC phase constructed by parallel packing of the supramolecular column that is composed of two Poly-1 chains. In the column, the isophthalate phosphor is confined in between the core of polymer backbones and the shell of decyl tails, and thus the nonradiative process is further suppressed. The materials design of Poly-1 can be widely applied for developing new RTP polymers.

Long-chain molecules can self-assemble into ordered and functional structures through chain folding. In crystalline polymers, chain folding leads to lamellar crystals that are extremely important to the ultimate properties. Understanding chain folding at the molecular level remains a great challenge. Here, we report that a dynamic helical cis-poly­(phenylacetylene) bearing a bulky side group (P1), which is a side-chain liquid crystalline polymer, can also form folded chain lamellae in the hexagonal columnar phase. Our atomic force microscopy (AFM) experiments on P1 thin films directly visualized the adjacent and nonadjacent folds at the liquid crystal–amorphous interface. While the helical segments of P1 with a diameter of 2.2 nm closely pack in the hexagonal lattice, the disorder strands that connect the helices could compose the folds. Furthermore, we monitored the lamellar growth from the amorphous state using AFM. We demonstrate experimentally for the first time that the lamellar growth may obey the kinetics of Ostwald ripening. It is also found that with the initial lamellar thickness close to the persistence length of P1, the lamellae show simultaneous lateral extension and thickening.

We synthesized a series of poly(dialkyl 1-viny-3,5isophthalate) (P 3,5 -n, n is the number of carbons on alkyl group, n = 4−18), wherein the polyethylene backbone is jacketed by the isophthalate side chains. The phase behaviors of P 3,5 -n were investigated by using various techniques including thermal analysis, polarized light microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. It is identified that with n ≥ 8 the P 3,5 -n samples form the hexagonal columnar phase (Φ H ). Furthermore, P 3,5 -16 and P 3,5 -18 can exhibit a four-column hexagonal superlattice (Φ H S ), wherein one column is frustrated. After the alkyl tails are fully melted or crystallized, the Φ H S degrades into the conventional Φ H phase. For the Φ H of P 3,5 -n observed, the cross section area of the column (S) increases linearly with n, S = 1.97 + 0.52n (nm 2 ). The number of repeating units (Z rep ) required to be packed in the 0.44 nm thick column stratum is 4. Compared with poly(dialkyl 1-vinyl-2,5-terephthalate) (P 2,5 -n), which is the isomer of P 3,5 -n and can form the Φ H phase based on the parallel packing of a "single-chain column", P 3,5 -n possesses the intercept and slope of the linear function of S vs n and the Z rep value nearly twice that found for P 2,5 -n. We propose that P 3,5 -n can self-organize into the column containing two chains laterally associated together. Namely, P 3,5 -n takes the "double-chain column" rather than the "single-chain column" as the building block for the Φ H phase.

This paper reports two methods of synthesis for 1,2,4-trimethoxy-5-(1-methyl-2-phenyl-vinyl)-benzene, which was a key intermediate to synthesize the various Lamellarins. One method is by using the Wittig-Horner reaction and another is by the Grignard reaction. By conducting contrast experiments, we got the optimal reaction parameters for high yields. The newly formed intermediate was identified by means of IR spectrum, (1)H-NMR, (13)C-NMR and melting point measurements.

Chemo-, regio-, and stereoselectivity have been achieved in the oxidations of aryl olefins. The aryl olefins were oxidized by 2 equivalents of H 2 O 2 in acetic acid, catalyzed by 0.02 equivalent of RuCl 3 , leading to the formations of syn-aryl glycol monoesters. As the reaction is concerted, both the regio-and stereoselectivity are excellent. In the presence of aliphatic C=C bonds, the aryl C=C bonds were selectively dioxygenated. This represents the first example of chemoselective dioxygenation of aryl C=C bonds.

and Stereoselective Synthesis of syn-Aryl Glycol Monoesters from Aryl Olefins with Hydrogen Peroxide Catalyzed by RuCl 3 . -In the presence of aliphatic C-C double bonds, the aryl double bonds are selectively dioxygenated. The fact that the process proceeds generally with complete selectivity [cf. (XIII) and (XV)] can be used for the preparation of natural products. -(ZHANG, Y.; CHU, G.; CUI, X.; HAN, Z.; DOU, D.; CHEN, Y.; YU, X.; LI*, C.; Synlett 2010, 7,